Experiment
by R4B1D MO053
Summary: James wakes up from a dream to realize he's been kidnapped and experimented on by scientists.  Not a Maximum Ride-based story.  T for violence and mild suggestive adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

Isn't it nice how being outside on a sunny, clear day warms you to the bone? The vitamin d soaking into your skin makes you wish the sun would never set, especially after over a week straight of clouds and rain.

Days like these are best spent at a park or a beach; someplace where people can enjoy each other's company and take in the long-awaited-for good weather.  
I, myself, was alone at the park on such a day. It was nice to sit on a bench and take in the sights and smells of people interacting with their friends and families.  
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, allowing the smells of a nearby garden, hamburgers on a grill, and a duck pond to send all of my senses reeling. My eyes remained closed as the sun's warmth soaked me to the core and the wind blew through my short, blonde hair.  
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Opening my eyes, I saw a young girl, roughly my age, standing in front of me. She was fairly attractive with long auburn hair and big hazel eyes. I could tell that she wasn't at all shy by the way she looked me in the eye. Her unfaltering smile also helped me draw that conclusion.

"It just got a little more beautiful," I said as I inspected the strange girl. Color flooded her cheeks at the flirtatious complement.  
"Mind if I join you? I'm waiting to meet some friends, but I'm here a little early," she explained as she sat down without waiting for me to respond. "I'm Abby by the way. But some people call me Kate." She held out her hand, which I shook.  
"Kate? Why Kate?"  
"Hmm... I'm not sure, exactly. The people who call me Kate say that I look like a Kate, but I disagree. I think I look more like an Emma or a Rebecca. But anyways, I thought I would come and sit with you because you were here all alone. Are you waiting for someone too?"  
I smiled at how talkative Abby was. "No, not really. I'm just-"

"Oh. Well, you're more than welcome to join us. We were just going to meet here then go to lunch at Papa Luigi's Pizza for lunch." She looked at me with hopeful eyes and a big smile.  
"Um... I would but I actually have to be somewhere," I said, standing up and looking at my watch.  
"Oh. Well, it was nice meeting you..." She stopped short when she realized she didn't know my name yet.  
"James," I informed her as I shook her hand again, "Nice meeting you, too, Abby."  
As I turned to head toward my car, I began to feel a line of tingling-pain down the right side of my back in between my spine and shoulder blade. It didn't bother me too much, so I ignored it and kept walking.  
When I was about halfway to my car, a second line of the annoying tingling began on the left side of my back. I tried to reach back and scratch it, but found my arms would no longer obey me.  
The tingling worsened into a dull ache as my legs also stopped working. Before I knew what was happening, I was flat on my back, looking up at the clear, blue sky. A sense of panic and fear rose in my chest as I struggled to get my unresponsive limbs to move.  
"He's waking up!" shouted a far-off, muffled voice. The ache in my back had escalated to a constant, throbbing pain that made me clench my teeth.  
"So give him more sedatives!" came a second, male voice. They were getting clearer.  
"He's already had too much! Giving him more could kill him!" argued the first voice. It was a woman speaking.  
My eyes darted around for the source, but my vision was fading as well.  
The man swore harshly as I awakened from my dream. The voices were still very muffled, and I realized I was actually submerged in water with a breathing mask covering my nose and mouth.  
Slowly, I began to realize where I was. They had put me in one of those water tanks surgeons use only for the most complex and dangerous operations. My back now felt as if it had been sliced multiple times with a dull knife in the same two spots.  
The dream had completely faded now and I was wide awake, thrashing wildly in a futile attempt to escape.  
"He'll hurt himself!" exclaimed a third person. This was also a woman's voice.  
"Sedate him! Now!" the man barked.  
"But-"  
"Do it. We've worked too hard to get him, we can't risk any injuries."  
Everything that had happened in the past couple of months came back in a rush: My parents dying in a car crash, my sister and I being placed into a foster home, then getting kidnapped and sedated. It seemed like I had only been dreaming for a few minutes, but in reality it had been days. I started to fight harder, and realized I had been screaming.  
As the world around me began to fade once again, I drew this conclusion: the people operating on me were scientists, and I had become their experiment.


	2. Chapter 2

Slowly, I awoke from my anesthesia-induced slumber. I was no longer in a tank, but lying on my stomach on a bed with my head turned one side so the pillow wouldn't smother me. When I opened my heavy, tired eyelids, I noticed I was hooked up to an IV. A steady beeping noise told me I was also hooked up to a heart monitor.

My entire body felt light and stiff. When I tried to move, I realized I had been strapped down, but somehow I remained calm. Even in my groggy state I recognized the effects of valium. I had experienced it once before on a visit to the dentist.

I couldn't see much of the room, being unable to move and also having trouble with my eyes focusing properly limited my outlook on the room. What I could see reminded me of a cross between a hospital room and a prison cell. The cracked cement walls were painted white and were utterly windowless. I could tell the floor was covered in white tiles, and that was about it. I assumed the rest of the room was just as boring as the thirty square feet I could see and closed my eyes to sleep.

My rest was soon interrupted by the sound of an opening door and a pair of footsteps entering the room. One of the visitors poked and prodded at my upturned back while the second, a woman, walked in front of me to check my IV.

"I hope there wasn't any nerve damage," said a male voice behind me. I recognized it as the one from when I was being operated on.

The woman shrugged her shoulders and continued her work. It was a few minutes before she noticed I was staring at her. She smiled warmly and said, "Sleep. You need to rest." It didn't take very long for me to obey.

I didn't know how long I was lying there, dozing in and out of sleep. I still felt light and numb but I didn't feel as tired when I fully woke up again several hours later. I breathed deeply and tried once again to sit up. It took me a second to recall that I had been strapped down. I strained against the bonds that were around my legs, waist, and upper torso. Pain shot down my spine momentarily when I tried harder to get free, making me shout. Someone must have heard me, because I heard the door open once again. It was only one person this time.

The visitor walked around the bed so I could see him. I was breathing heavily due to the physical stress. The man looked more irritated than concerned that I might have hurt myself.

"We don't want you to move, obviously, or else we wouldn't have you strapped down," he said sternly. I said nothing and nodded, avoiding his eyes. It was the same man from before. Now I could put a face to the voice. He was an older man, with deep lines set in his face. He was bald on top, with a short, grey beard and piercing blue eyes. He had a stern look about him, and had the appearance of someone who didn't joke around much, if at all.

"Who are you?" I asked. My voice was hoarse from not using it, and sounded far less intimidating than I wanted it to. "Where am I? What did you do to me?"

The man sighed and shook his head. "So many questions. To answer the first, my name is Luke Porthos. I can't exactly answer the second, seeing how you're at a top secret location. Let's just say you're somewhere in the Midwest of the United States."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Area 51?" I mused. Luke didn't look pleased.

"As to what we did to you, there are a number of things. You are stronger, faster, more aggressive, more agile, to name a few… improvements." He paused and looked at something on my back. "Tell me something. Can you feel it when I do this?" He reached over and touched whatever it was that he had just been looking at. Oddly, it felt as if he was touching my arm, only my arms were strapped down at my sides, not protruding from my back.

"What did you do?" I asked, trying once again to get free. Luke said nothing and walked away, smiling a little to himself. "Hey! Get back here! What did you do to me!" I struggled harder and harder against the restraints, unsuccessfully trying to figure out what had happened to me. The doctor came back a few seconds later, carrying a small mirror. He directed it at my back so I could see it. I gasped at the sight.

"Are those… _wings_?"


	3. Chapter 3

My family was anything anyone could ever want. My father, Michael Titus, was a pilot, and my mother, Jane Titus, was a nurse. They made me and my twin sister, Madeline (I call her Maddie), their priority along with the concern that we become properly educated. Thus we attended a private school, made possible by my father's enormous income. It was one of a few benefits from having a well-paid pilot as my dad.

Our house wasn't large, just big enough for our family of four. It was in one of those gated communities with the cookie cutter brick houses and cul-de-sacs. It was the kind of place where doctors, lawyers, or wealthy business-owners live. Every house had green lawns out front that were trimmed precisely and free of dandelions and crabgrass, but only some (like ours) had a pool and hot tub built into the ground in the backyard.

The only bad thing about my father's career was that he wasn't home a lot. He picked up the piloting gig when my sister and I turned twelve, and we all moved to Colorado before I started junior high. My mom worked nights at the hospital, so she slept all day while Maddie and I were at school and was usually awake by the time we got home. She would make our supper, and then leave us to do the cleaning up afterwards, which wasn't a bad thing.

My parents worked hard so my sister and I wouldn't have to find part-time jobs during our school years, which was part of the deal we had with mom and dad: if we got A's and B's in school, then they would pay for me and Maddie's shared car. We kept our end of the deal easily. Luckily, my sister and I got along without difficulty and were able to share the car with ease.

I enjoyed my sister's company and we shared many of the same friends. We were kind of a package deal to anyone who wanted to hang out with us. Me, being the protective older brother (by 4 minutes), often warded off the users and players who took interest in her. I let a boy get close to her once and they were together a few months before he took interest in some other girl and left Maddie behind, heartbroken for months. I was there for her, and made sure I gave the guy a piece of my mind. After that I tried to be more careful of who I let close to my sister, but my father set me straight when he found out what I was doing.

"You have to let her make mistakes on her own," he told me, "it's those mistakes and heartbreaks that help her decide the man she wants to marry." So I let her decide for herself what she wanted to do, warning off the occasional notorious cheaters and players.

Madeline and I would often go out with friends whenever my mom and dad went out on their date nights so we wouldn't have to fend for ourselves for supper. Since mom had the weekends off, they would go out whenever dad had a Friday or Saturday night at home, which didn't happen often. My parents were on their way home after one of these date nights from a new restaurant that was about two and a half hours away from home. They left the restaurant around midnight and my dad fell asleep at the wheel, hitting a semi head-on and killing them instantly. They were only 10 miles from home.

I was kidnapped the night after my parents were buried. The scientists took me from my sister, forcing me to abandon her. As I sat on the edge of my bed, three weeks after I woke up and discovered wings on my back, I thought about what she must think of me.

She would probably assume I simply left without as much as a wave goodbye, unable to handle the deaths of both of our parents.

She'd think I'd lied to her when I said I would always be there for her.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as a silent tear ran down my nose and dripped on the linoleum floor.

Anger swelled in me then, almost instantly. Luke Porthos would pay for breaking my sister's trust in me. All the scientists involved would pay.


End file.
